Will the Unemployment Benefit Jeopardize My Green Card Application?

Since COVID-19 started back in March, the questions about whether getting unemployment benefits will jeopardize new green card applications and the renewals of other immigration status keep coming up. 

As you may know, USCIS now requires most applicants to submit a new form I-944 Declaration of Self-Efficiency which looks at our finance, education, and all benefits we have applied for to evaluate whether we can pass the public charge or not. So is unemployment going to be a red flag during the public charge review? Let's take a closer look:

Is Unemployment a Red Flag to USCIS? 

First you need to know what you are looking at. You can start by looking at your household income:

What's your household income and who are your sponsors?

If the unemployment lowers your "household" income, which makes you not able to meet the I-864 Affidavit of Support requirements, then yes, it can potentially lead to a rejection because of that.

Read this post to learn more about I-864 requirements.

Form I-864 and form I-944 both evaluate whether we have enough financial support, but it looks at your "whole household", which means, this includes your spouse's income and assets and it looks at how many minors you have, etc. Just you being unemployed is not the whole story. I would try to collect more positive factors to proof your self-efficiency other than your job.

Unemployment is Not Welfare!

Also note that unemployment is NOT welfare, it's an insurance that's funded by both employers and workers. The unemployment benefits are not at the cost of taxpayers, therefore it won't be considered as a negative factor in your form I-944 and it won't affect your pubic charge review. 

I totally understand that COVID-19 pandemic can add a layer of difficulty to all of our I-485 adjustment of status applications, however, there's no need to panic! As long as you are following the rules and pass all requirements, there's no reason for USCIS to deny your case. 

Click here to see a step-by-step experience for filing the I-485 application>>

Disclaimer: This article is for sharing my personal opinion only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.